


little victories

by sannlykke



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, They adopt a cat. That's it that's the whole fic.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 00:39:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10820097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sannlykke/pseuds/sannlykke
Summary: “I’ll clean it up,” Chihiro says hurriedly as soon as he emerges from the bathroom. He takes one look at where Seijuurou is staring pointedly and freezes. It’s actually kind of cute—that is, if Seijuurou didn’t have a healthy dose of germaphobia in regards to feral animals. “Um, I can explain—“





	little victories

**Author's Note:**

> this came about from a prompt @miss_liding sent me like...literally a year ago:
>
>> I have a mayuaka headcanon that they get a cat a while after they move in together. Mayuzumi is v fond of the cat, but Akashi is less so bc it keeps taking Mayuzumi's attention haha
> 
> i'm so sorry it took this long!!! orz
> 
> ...yeah. happy mayuaka day! \o/

It had all started with the fish.

Mayuzumi has a habit of leaving his things everywhere—on his desk, on the dining table, on the sofa. Seijuurou tolerated it for the first week of them living together (sort of an experiment on how long he could go without wanting to renovate the entire place), but by the beginning of the second it is becoming clear that this would not do.

“Chihiro.”

“…Yeah?”

“Did you leave fish outside again? I can smell it around the foyer, you know.”

He gets no response save for the sound of footsteps and the sound of the bathroom door closing. Well, he would pay for that later—instead, Seijuurou turns his attention towards the sound coming from outside their door. Usually apartments on the second floor do not get so many unwanted visitors, or so he had been led to believe. This one, though, sounded more like a child.

Who would leave a child outside so late?

Being the responsible sort of person he is, Seijuurou opts for opening the door anyway.

At first he sees nothing but the dark, but then something zips past his legs into the door. He quickly closes the door, frowning at the grey tail poking out from beneath the couch.

Mayuzumi has a habit of leaving food everywhere, but Seijuurou hadn’t thought it would come to _this_.

“I’ll clean it up,” Mayuzumi says hurriedly as soon as he emerges from the bathroom. He takes one look at where Seijuurou is staring pointedly and freezes. It’s actually kind of cute—that is, if Seijuurou didn’t have a healthy dose of germaphobia in regards to feral animals. “Um, I can explain—“

 

 

Ringo (as Mayuzumi calls the creature, in a disgustingly affectionate way that baffled Seijuurou as much as he could be baffled) has no known owner, according to the vet who checks him all over for microchips and fleas and other feline diseases. Ringo is clean, a little on the skinny side, but entirely healthy for a two-year-old tramp.

“I’m not taking her to the pound,” Mayuzumi says as soon as they walk out of the office. Ringo is in a sturdy cage and very quiet. It’s the most Seijuurou has ever heard him talk about any animal. This is enough reason for him to glare discreetly at said animal (even though he knows full well it cannot see him.) “She won’t make a mess.”

“Let me guess,” Seijuurou replies drily, “You already have cat food stashed away somewhere and a cat bed under your bed.”

“Our bed,” Mayuzumi corrects, then, quickly, “How the fuck did you know?”

Seijuurou just gives him a smug smile.

 

 

As it were, they discovered not a few days in, Ringo only has eyes for Mayuzumi.

And as far as Seijuurou is concerned, that simply cannot do. Dinnertime would see the beast curled up primly on Mayuzumi’s lap, making it next to impossible for Seijuurou to coax him out of his position to cuddle on the sofa. Bedtime would find Ringo wedged between their heads, or their legs, or kneading at Mayuzumi’s chest in a way that prevented full-body contact.

Considering Mayuzumi’s already hectic schedule as a college senior, taking _any_ time away from _together-time_ is absolutely a detriment to their relationship.

“Chihiro,” Seijuurou says, one month, twelve days, two hours and several minutes give or take into their newfound status as parents of the beast (Mayuzumi, anyway, is _the_ parent), “Why don’t we take a vacation.”

“Are you kidding,” Mayuzumi replies, almost immediately. He’s not even looking at Seijuurou but at his swiftly moving screen. “I have three finals. _You_ have—”

“—finished them early,” Seijuurou declares, setting down his pen. Ringo is perched on the edge of Mayuzumi’s desk, batting at the various anime keychains hanging from his corkboard. Mayuzumi doesn’t even let _him_ touch those keychains. It’s entirely too unfair that a cat would be bestowed privileges he can’t have. “And, in any case, watching livestreams isn’t studying.“

Ringo decides to meow at this moment, capturing Mayuzumi’s attention immediately. He reaches out, carefully holding the cat in both hands, and deposits it onto his lap. “Hey, what’s the matter? You hungry?”

It is then Seijuurou decides his only option left is murder.

 

 

Still, doing that would not be looked upon kindly by people, and would probably leave Mayuzumi in a fit of depression for days to come. Seijuurou will not abide by that, as much as he wants to reach out and chuck Ringo out the window at several points in time. It’s almost as if the cat _knows_ its position as an object of simultaneous love and scorn, and has taken upon itself to be as annoying as possible when in Seijuurou’s presence.

Or maybe it’s just curling up around his leg because it wants food. Who knows. Seijuurou can read people quite well, but animals that are not Yukimaru are, well—baffling. He sets down Ringo’s bowl and leaves her to her meal.

Mayuzumi has a full day scheduled at the lab today, and Seijuurou for once has an empty schedule in his hands. It’s raining outside, and heavily—he sits on the couch with a philosophy textbook, the curtains opened slightly so he could see the sidewalk below. The lamplight is enough for him to see by, and even without he quite likes the ambience. There’s something soothing about being dry and indoors while the storm rages outside. Maybe he could relax for a while.

Then, abruptly, thunder.

It would not have been much of a surprise—Seijuurou had been waiting for it—if not for the fact that something gray and furry had darted straight into his arms right on the second it hit. Seijuurou almost drops the book, but catches it at the last moment (he doesn’t drop anything, nope, never). He looks down at Ringo with a raised eyebrow, then realizes her entire body is vibrating.

Oh.

He puts down the book this time, awkwardly, for once in his life unsure of how to proceed. Should he pet her? Put her under the bed? Seijuurou knows Mayuzumi had been feeding her for a month before the formal adoption and had probably dealt with her hiding inside before, but this is the first time in months that a storm this big has hit town. He’s never seen Ringo this upset, alone.

Thunder rumbles outside again, less explosive this time, but the cat only buries herself deeper into his lap. Seijuurou bites his lip; it wouldn’t do if Mayuzumi came back to her trembling in a corner. And well—it’s not like he’s banned from touching her. He’s just never _wanted_ to.

He feels the trembling start to lessen as he runs his fingers through Ringo’s fur, rubbing the creature’s back slowly like he’s seen Mayuzumi do before. Ringo bumps her head against his abdomen and lets out a small noise. That he will take as a good sign.

Seijuurou shifts his position and watches as she tucks her paws underneath her body, settling into the space between his crossed legs. Ringo’s long tail bats at his feet, and the trembling slowly becomes something else as she closes her eyes and purrs. It’s surprisingly soothing for something he had taken it upon himself to disdain for almost the entire duration of their relationship. Of course,  _Mayuzumi_ had always been the recipient of such affection.

If Ringo is only behaving this way now because Seijuurou is the only one available, he chooses to not dwell on that. But something—mainly the way Ringo is nudging at his leg—tells him otherwise.

He picks up his book again, absorbing exactly none of Hegel’s theories as he feels Ringo continue to purr in his lap. No wonder Mayuzumi has been doing inadequately in his classes lately; this is no way to properly study.

Seijuurou manages another three pages before he decides philosophy just isn’t worth it today.

 

* * *

 

When Chihiro enters the door he sees Akashi has fallen asleep on the couch. The wind is still howling outside, though much quieter compared to before. Chihiro sets his backpack on the dining table and flips the light switch.

“Akashi?”

He walks to the window to close the curtains, looking down to see Ringo curled up in Akashi’s lap. Neither of them stir as he blinks and leans in for a closer look. There’s a textbook lying half-open next to them, and Mayuzumi almost steps on the bird toy he thought they’d lost a couple weeks back as he circles the couch. _Did Akashi find this?_

“Huh.”

He’d have to get Akashi a blanket or something. But first, Chihiro steps away, pulling out his phone to snap a picture. Then another. Then he saves it as his new phone background.

Despite not knowing what had happened earlier, Chihiro is pretty sure it had to have been nothing short of a miracle.

And, looking at them—even if Akashi were to wake now and complain (not that Chihiro has ever heard him complain; he isn’t even sure if that’s physically possible) about the lump of fur in his lap, well. The small smile on Akashi’s face as he sleeps, and Ringo’s head resting against his hand, is enough of a statement for Chihiro.

**Author's Note:**

> psa don't feed your cats kusaya it's not good for them...also be nice to your pets, ok.  
> ive never had a cat before so if anything is wildly inaccurate im sorry o)-<


End file.
